1. Field Of The Invention
This invention relates to holders for elongated articles having stem or shank-like portions such as needles, especially sewing needles, and like articles of comparable dimensions and weight, including ordinary headed pins, safety pins, and hair pins or grips, all of which are of light weight and small dimensions and are generally required to be stored and protected prior to sale to user, displayed for sale purposes, and stored by the user after sale between periods of use. Such articles are hereinafter referred to as articles of the kind specified.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
One form of holder in which, in the past, sewing needles have been packaged for sale comprises a wrapping member made of a thin sheet material such as paper, and a mounting element attached to the wrapping member including a piece of cloth or similar material to which the needles are attached by passing them through a mid portion of such piece of material.
More recently, a construction has been proposed in which a mounting member comprising a moulding of thermoplastic material is attached to a base member, the mounting member being provided with gripping formations for needles and there being a cover member in the form of a hollow transparent plastics shell which protects the needles held by the mounting member whilst permitting them to remain visible. Such a needle holder is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,500,998.
Whilst this last mentioned construction provides a very strong package for needles it has disadvantages in that it is relatively expensive to manufacture and requires complex machinery for the moulding and attachment of the mounting member to the base.